Michael Patton's Blog (10)

As I have been reading and reviewing books and blogs over the years, my approach has changed. This was not an overnight change, but something that just happened the more involved I became in engaging those who were serious about teaching and learning with intellectual honesty and integrity (something that, I am sad to say, does not often characterize Christian leaders and teachers). There are certain characteristics that I have found in people’s teaching that immediately alert me to the realizat… Continue

A recent article at USA Today asks a questions in an article called "Fightin' Words": "Is the Bible the literal word of God, or a historical compilation written by different people in different situations over a period of years? This question has provoked some soul-searching about the very foundation upon which the Christian faith is based." This is a rather ill-informed question that completely misunderstands the traditio… Continue

From the Christian Post 1. Ted Haggard Speaks on Scandal for First Time Two years after Ted Haggard stepped down from the top post at the National Association of Evangelicals amid a sex and drug scandal, the former evangelical leader spoke of his past struggles openly for the first time at a small church in Morrison, Ill. There, he revealed that a man sexually abused him as a child and that his dark past came back to haunt him in his adult life. 2. T… Continue

The latest Barna survey was published last night. Its intent was to evaluate the Evangelical position concerning the environment. You can find it here. One paragraph in particular caught my attention: "Most Christians are not satisfied to be mere observers of the green movement. Three-quarters of self-identified Christians (78%) agree they would like to see their fellow Christians take a more a… Continue

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Some of you may have noticed that my blog Parchment and Pen has been down for almost two days. It seems that hackers got us and it does not look good. The backup files are corrupted. Sigh . . . I would write some profound theological comments about this event and muse about its implications, but I thought that I would just cry instead. By some miracle, we may be able to recover some of the blog. I will keep you updated. Continue

I am going to post a couple of blog posts that I did last month that are especially relevant considering Theologica. I believe that we are to defend the faith. I believe that we are to contend for the faith. One of my great loves in theology is the discipline of apologetics. But sometimes our zealousness for our faith can have the opposite effect and actually undermine our witness. We can shame God. For the next two blogs I am going to be talking about how to engage people in theological issue… Continue

In the last blog in this series, I talked about how to engage in theological conversation or controversy, especially on the internet. In this blog post I want to take this one step further in talking about our attitude. In my opinion, one cannot underestimate the importance of having the right attitude. Chuck Swindoll says that life is about one-percent what happens to you and ninety-nine percent how we resp… Continue

"Converstionism." This is one of the few marks of Evangelicalism spoken of by Evangelical historian Mark Noll. Evangelicals believe that people must experience a sincere personal conversion to Jesus Christ. This is a hallmark of Christianity---to be a convert. Please understand that what follows in no way detracts from this. Conversionism is essential to Evangelicalism. What follows serves as a warning about the dangers that often exist as a person's conversion from any position to ano… Continue

20. You only curse around fundamentalists. 19. You leave your church because the sermon was not obscure enough. 18. You refer to your local assembly as “church,” “synagogue,” or “mosque” depending on who you are talking to. 17. Your blog is a rant about how everyone else rants too much. 16. You brag that you have never been pinned down theologically on any issue. 15. The only thing you are sure of is that others cannot be sure of anything. 14. You bring your own wine to communion. 13. You… Continue